An event that celebrates those who have recovered from their battles with addiction will be held in Gyro Park in downtown Penticton Saturday morning.
Free yoga, a social media booth and signing of a proclamation by Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit are all part of a local effort to celebrate a Recovery Day in Gyro Park starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Recovery Day aims to celebrate Canadians in recovery with the purpose of “ending the stigma” and showing that people do recover from addiction and families can heal, said a news release from OneSky Community Resources.
The event has been organized by a small coalition of organizations who see first hand how recovery saves lives.
Recovery Day is one of more than 30 happening across Canada and designed to celebrate recovery from addiction, challenge stigma, and call for further changes to improve access to treatment programs and peer-based recovery supports in community.
“With the unprecedented overdose crisis currently taking place in B.C., a Recovery Day brings important focus to the many successes and positive life changes that take place in our city.” says Ian Gerbrandt, a program director with OneSky Community Resources and a member of the organizing committee. “One way to inspire change and reduce the crisis is to encourage people with lived experience to share their stories of positive change and hope.”
Jerome Abraham, another organizer who has personal experience in recovery, said the event shows people can make big changes in their lives and recover from addiction.
“My journey to recovery has been difficult at times. However, the connections I have made to people in recovery, and their love and support, is one of the reasons I am able to live a life of recovery.”
Abraham, who is also the executive director of Discovery House, a peer-based recovery house for men, said “his friends inspired him and social events like Recovery Day connected me, and they make me want to be part of the healing force of recovery."
Rather than a walk or run, the group invites people for a free day of Yoga in the Park.
The instructors on hand all have experience running yoga programs supporting wellness and people in different stages of recovery and even harm reduction.
“The yoga class will be 60 minutes in length and will consist of breath awareness, guided movement and deep relaxation” said instructor Dana Powell. “It will be a practice that will help us deepen our sense of connection and develop compassion for ourselves and each other.”
In addition to the outdoor yoga, there will be a display of local resources, a social media booth, and a space for a memorial to honour family and friends lost too soon to substance abuse.
People are asked to bring their own mat, water bottle and comfortable clothes, but the event will have extra supplies on hand for those wanting to try yoga and show support for all pathways to recovery.
For more information about Recovery Day Canada, visit www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.ca
For more on OneSky Community Resources, click here.
